Eric Haynes wrote:DeadEye_Dan wrote:(MT)Montanafowler wrote:DeadEye_Dan wrote:(MT)Montanafowler wrote:[quote="assateague"]We kissed and made up, but if he's going to take a holier than thou attitude, he better make damn sure his Is are dotted and his Ts are crossed.
AT, what was your beef with him?
overall i think baiting is not that big of a deal, but as a public figurehead of waterfowling, he needs to have his shit together.
You're studying wildlife biology, and you don't have a problem with baiting waterfowl?
You're right to question your future.
how so? in the big scheme of things, is it really that big of a deal? hell it's legal to hunt them in grain fields. old grandmas feed birds at the park all the time. In some states you can kill deer over corn. it's all the same thing until you toss out corn and have a gun in your hand for a duck, then you're a "FUCKING POACHER!"
just because i study WB doesn't mean i have to agree with every law ever written concerning wildlife. Personal ethics aside, it's Caesar's law and a law abiding citizen follows that law, but i'm not gonna Damn someone to the fires of Hell over killing a bird over corn.
You're comparing two totally different things.
Deer for the most part aren't migratory, putting feed out for them isn't going to change things drastically - it's just going to put them into a spot where you can kill them easier.
Think of the implications that widespread baiting in the northern climates would have for migratory waterfowl.
The bait would keep the birds in an area far longer than they should be because there is available food. The natural cycle is that they move ahead of harsh weather, feeding as they go.
Radio transmitters have documented Mallards flying upwards of 800 miles in one flight - those long non-stop flights also burn nearly 50% of their body weight.
Potentially, baiting could keep birds in an area so long that they wouldn't have enough available food within flying distance to allow them to survive the balance of a winter, after depleting the majority of their energy.
It's not just affecting the 6 birds you killed, it's affecting the entire population.
It's not that I disagree completely, but putting a 50lb of corn into a pond is a microscopic amount, probably .000000000000000000000000000000000001% of what farms in the US produce in crop waste every day. If you think baiting is bad, why not boycott any farm that wastes even 1 single grain because it disrupts animals natural habitat and progression. While I have never baited anything, simply because there is no need for it here, I don't see a damn thing wrong with it in the scheme of things.
How far back do you want to go back to say "That style is long gone"? You mean back when there were market hunter? Maybe back when we were pumping birds and waterways full of lead? When is a "better" time to look back on?[/quote]
I guess I clearly see a difference between normal agricultural practices that waste a little grain and keeping an area baited. And if you followed any modern equipment around a field, you'd be shocked how little grain is actually left.
And baiting tends to become an "arms race" so to speak.
One guy puts out 5lbs of corn, and then his neighbor puts out 50lbs and then a club starts buying semi-loads and dumping them...I've watched it happen with the idiot deer waiters in this state.
And I get your point as well - I take advantage of modern times and wear Gore-tex and neoprene, and use 4stoke outboards. It's just irksome that there are those who think they HAVE to HAVE that stuff to succeed.